


Of Flowers and Tattoos

by ewmyname



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Comfort, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, More character relationships, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-03
Updated: 2015-08-03
Packaged: 2018-04-12 18:47:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4490640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ewmyname/pseuds/ewmyname
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aaron Trevelyan is a florist with a mixed past, and Cullen Rutherford is an ex-captain of the military, now turned co-owner of a tattoo parlour. Strange circumstances pull Aaron and Cullen together, and they begin facing their own demons with each other.</p><p>(From a typical modern-ish florist and tattoo artist shop with a twist! As in, putting the characters where you'd least expect them to be.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Flowers and Tattoos

Chapter 1

Whistling gently, the redheaded young woman cycled down the street. Her hair was tightly clasped to her head, and she looked merry. Her face was kind looking. A slightly upturned nose and a full mouth with teeth somewhat in an overbite. Her face was long and round, and to top it all off she had startling green eyes which were further bought out by the dusting of freckles. The redheaded woman was cycling through town, and eventually came to a stop at her workplace. A flower shop, full of pinks, reds and yellows. Continuing to hum along to the song gently playing in her ears, she opened the shop up. She swayed, as she made her way through the morning light, over to grab her apron. She slipped it on, firmly patting her name tag.

Aaron, it read in frilly handwriting over her left breast. She began turning on the lights, not yet taking out her headphones. The door opened with a jingle as Aaron continued moving, not noticing the door open. She didn’t notice her heavy footed companion either, until she felt a large hand clamp itself on her shoulder. She pulled her headphones out of her ears, the soft melody fading away as she turned to the other.   
A hulking Qunari looked down on her, the ever gracious Iron Bull. A strange man this one. Aaron knew he took on mercenary work most often, but still he came to the store for his job every day. Maybe sometimes a little worse for wear, but he came nevertheless. No one dared bother Aaron in her shop, especially with the huge Qunari normally hovering right behind her. She smiled up at him, and earned a smile in return. 

“Good morning Bull.” She chirped, a morning person through and through. 

“Morning boss.” He nodded and moved away, getting himself and the shop ready. 

Iron Bull had been an unexpected employee; someone whom she’d always thought would work at the tattoo shop across the road. But no, he was here. Half of her thought that he was mainly here for the Tevinter mage in the tattoo shop. She laughed a little to herself, and looked out the window to the said shop. Said tevinter mage, and a blonde man seemed to be having an argument outside. And from what Aaron could see, they were arguing about a sign.

The mage was an attractive looking man, currently with his hands on his hips and his mouth pursed into a thin line. Aaron got along well with him, and eventually learnt his name was Dorian. He co-owned the tattoo parlour with the blonde man, aptly named Cullen. Cullen’s arms were folded defensively, and Aaron swore that his shirt was going to pop off by how his muscles bulged. She watched absentmindedly, sighing and leaning against the wall. Both were extremely attractive, but she had a soft spot for the blonde man.  
He was gentle and kind, with an easily flustered nature. Aaron, being who she is, loved teasing the ex-captain of the Templar organisation. A military corporation that Aaron never approved of, especially with her past experiences with mages. But, he piqued her interest nevertheless. She watched for a little while, amused by their seemingly heated argument, until she was bought out by a cough.

“Boss, are going to stand there all day and stare?” Bull raised an eyebrow at Aaron, and she returned back to reality. Sighing wistfully, she pushed herself off the wall and shook her head.

“No, no. I don’t think their argument would last that long.” She walked away, and headed to turn the closed sign over, and prepared to start her day.

The day was very long. Cullen was tired, and his head hurt. His withdrawal symptoms were becoming better, far better. But still, they pained him at times when he didn’t want them to. That was why Dorian placed him at the counter, in charge of the till, so he wouldn’t stab someone with the needle. The last customer had left for the day, and it was Dorian’s turn to clear up. 

“Cullen! If you’re still out there, can you fetch the open sign from the outside?” Dorian’s voice rang out clear from the back of the parlour, and Cullen wordlessly moved away. Dorian would know he’d accepted when the door opened and jingled. Cullen sighed in relief, seeing it was raining. The rain was calming to him, and he liked it. He trudged over to the open sign, and picked it up, only to glance away. He looked across the street, to see the flower shop across the road clearing up. The-whom he presumed to be-owner was dancing around in the shop again. She was twirling and dipping, holding her hands up to some imaginary partner. 

She was not someone he would have picked to own a flower shop, especially with her demeanour and looks. She looked like she’d beat someone up if they looked funny at her sometimes, and other times she looked like the epitome of sarcastic. And she was, from what Cullen had figured. She came over every now and then to talk to Dorian. They both easily exchanged quips and remarks, and on the odd occasion they talked about getting her a floral tattoo. 

She was gorgeous though, and Cullen wouldn’t deny to himself he had a small crush on her. He watched her sometimes, and Maker, he needed help. Her tempo in her dance changed, probably due to the song change and Cullen found his attention being snapped back to her. She stopped for a moment, and then began dancing slowly. Her hands meticulously ran up her sides and flicked off her head, her backside slowly swaying. Cullen found his mouth go dry, and he licked his lips subconsciously. Maker, this was so wrong. But she was so tantalising. She moved at a leisurely pace, her crossing over her chest. Her hair was free, and swayed around as she moved, to the beat of the invisible music. His grip tightened on the sign he held in his hands, all but forgotten about. Very steadily she turned around...  
And their eyes met. Cullen felt his face instantly heat up, and he covered his mouth. He felt horrible, and terrible for staring at her like that. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth agape. And damn, all he could think in this moment was wondering what those lips would look like wrapped around something. He briskly turned away, hand covering his blushing face quickly as he shoved his way back into the tattoo parlour. He was met with Dorian, wiping his hands on his pants and raising an eyebrow.

“What’s got you into a fuss?” Dorian eyed Cullen skeptically, and Cullen just shook his head.

“Nothing, absolutely nothing.”

Aaron went home in a tizzy that night. She couldn’t believe she’d been caught like that, and wondered how long he’d been watching her. Or if he had been watching at all. Oh, Maker, give her guidance. She rubbed her forehead, and got off her bike, and walked up to the small home she shared with her roommate. Her roommate is Cassandra Pentaghast, part of the Seeker section of the local police department. She took out her keys and opened the door, calling out she was home. She received no response, so she assumed that Cassandra was at work or sleeping off the night shift. Putting her things down, she walked over to the living room and flopped onto the couch. 

She stared around the room, taking it all in all over again. And then she stopped. Ah... Of course. A photo of herself, with her second eldest brother with his arm around her neck. It was the only good photo she had of him, and she felt a twinge of pain in her heart. She looked guiltily away from the photo, not wanting to look into those warm blue eyes. They stared, even now they could see right into her soul. And she shirked away like a coward, leaving the photo where it was.

Maker, she needed help.

**Author's Note:**

> Whew, this was a bit of a long time coming. Of course knowing me, I fell right into Cullen's little trap of love. Adorable yes. I plan to do further chapters! I hope y'all liked it!


End file.
